Sometimes scientists don't think about the consequences of their discoveries. As if there weren't enough viruses, trojans and phishing schemes to threaten a computer's security, a team of researchers at the University of California has devised an application which could easily compete for the Best Password Breaker title.

The program, developed by Doug Tygar and graduates Li Zhuang and Feng Zhou, records the sounds made by the keyboard' buttons when being pressed, then it filters and converts them to characters which make up words, propositions and phrases.

At the first filtering, the program recognizes half the characters, but since it has the capacity to learn, the third filtering has an accuracy of 96%.

Tygar says that for a 10 character password, the program will provide 75 possible words, which means that a hacker has to try a maximum number of 75 times before being granted access. In fact, the program doesn't even need to be present on a device in the vicinity of the target computer. If a trojan is used, it can programmed to send transmit the sounds using the Internet.

The protection methods are scarce and involve complex electronic equipment, developed by the RSA, which generates one password per minute. Perhaps it is time for hardware producers to start making silent keyboards.

This week, Softpedia takes you for an e-mail client tour. Vote for your favorite e-mail application.